Plant Propagation A-Z: Growing Plants for Free

Author:

Geoff Bryant

Publisher:

Firefly Books

Publication Date:

2003

ISBN:

1-552-97688-2

cloth, 224 p., $35

According to the author, "Plant propagation is a science, but for the most part it is easy." Easy, that is, if you follow Bryant's excellent introduction and brief descriptions in this well-illustrated work. The first half of the book gives the reader an overall sense of how plant propagation works, by division, by cuttings or from seeds. The second half of the book provides details for some 540 different plants, accompanied by 523 color illustrations.

The variety is nearly overwhelming, ranging from chokeberries to palms, from bromeliads to yuccas. Each description is really only two to four sentences long, and the color images for many of the plants are quite small. Consider this book a place to start if you are interested in plant propagation. Look for more details in books dedicated to specific groups of plants or in a work like Alan Toogood's American Horticultural Society Plant Propagation, available from DK Publishing.

Plant Propagation A-Z should inspire many a gardener to look at plant propagation as a means to keep gardening costs down, and to obtain plants in a garden that would normally not be available through some commercial outlets.